1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ski or to an element of a ski and more particularly to an improvement of the front end of the ski.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
Traditionally, a ski is composed of three portions: a central zone, a rear zone referred to as a "heel", and a front zone referred to as a "spatula". This spatula serves to allow the ski to pass above irregularities of the terrain such as compacted snow and make it such that the ski does not penetrate into the snow during skiing. For this purpose, the spatula is generally present in the form of a more or less rounded point which is raised with respect to the snow.
In a ski, the spatula is the most difficult portion to manufacture because of its raised configuration. Thus, to overcome this difficulty of manufacture, it is preferable to manufacture a ski without a spatula or with only one portion of the spatula, and to add a supplemental element at the end of manufacture. This manner of proceeding furthermore offers other advantages for the manufacturer. Thus, beginning with a ski without a spatula, the manufacturer can create different models with added spatula tips, of varying shapes and colors, for esthetic reasons, or to solve vibrational and shock absorption problems, or to furnish to the skiers doing competition skiing, skis which comprise disymmetrical spatulas. In effect, during a slalom, and principally for the special slalom, the skier tries to pass as close as possible to the poles defining the course to be run, while running the risk that a ski passes on the wrong side of the pole. To limit this risk to the maximum, it is known to apply to the spatula of the ski an unsymmetrical element whose front point is offset in direction from the other ski, i.e., towards the interior.
Generally, spatula tips are applied to the front of the ski and affixed thereto by gluing which definitively renders the attachment which is obtained. The added spatula cannot be disassembled other than by destroying the spatula, while the skier may have to change previously mounted spatulas on the front of the ski for a variety of reasons. Thus, for esthetic reasons, the skier may want to change the color or the shape of the spatula. The skier may likewise want to replace a broken spatula. Finally, skis equipped with asymmetrical spatulas can no longer be interchanged between right and left skis. This situation results in the disadvantage that the lateral portions in contact with the snow, called edges, wear out more on the interior side of each ski. The skier must utilize each ski on each foot and thus be able to invert the spatulas.